Gillian L. Schauer

• PhD, MPH
• Fellow at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / CDC Foundation

Introduction: The popularity and market for cannabidiol (CBD) products have expanded. Materials and Methods: Using Numerator advertising data from 2017 to 2021 regarding three popular CBD companies in the United States (Charlotte's Web, Green Roads, Medterra), we examined (1) general advertising characteristics (e.g., media channel, year); (2) ad c...

Background and aims: Eleven U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized non-medical use of marijuana. Public marijuana smoking is generally prohibited, although some states have considered exemptions. This study assessed attitudes about public marijuana smoking, perceptions of harm from marijuana secondhand smoke (SHS), and self-report...

Introduction: Electronic vapor products (EVPs), including e-cigarettes, can be used to aerosolize many substances. Examination of substances used in EVPs by US adults has been limited; we assessed past-year use of EVPs to deliver various substances. Methods: Data came from the 2017 SummerStyles Survey, a web-based survey of US adults (N = 4107)....

Introduction: Variations exist in insurance coverage of smoking-cessation treatments and cigarette smokers' use of these treatments. Recent trends in cessation behaviors by health insurance status have not been reported. This study examines trends in quit attempts, provider advice to quit, and use of cessation counseling and/or medications among a...

From 1965 to 2017, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among U.S. adults aged ≥18 years decreased from 42.4% to 14.0%, in part because of increases in smoking cessation (1,2). Increasing smoking cessation can reduce smoking-related disease, death, and health care expenditures (3). Increases in cessation are driven in large part by increases in quit...

Objectives Assess use and reasons for use of electronic vapour products (EVPs) shaped like universal serial bus (USB) flash drives among adults in the USA. Methods Data came from SummerStyles, an internet survey of US adults aged ≥18 (N=4088) fielded in June to July 2018. Respondents were shown product images and asked about ever use, current (pas...

As recreational marijuana expands, standardized surveillance measures examining the retail environment are critical for informing policy and enforcement. We conducted a reliability and generalizability study using a previously developed tool involving assessment of a sample of 25 randomly selected Seattle recreational marijuana retailers (20 recrea...

Background: Past-month marijuana and tobacco use (co-use) are increasing among U.S. adults, but little is known about the prevalence of co-use among U.S. youth. This study uses nationally representative data to assess the prevalence, correlates, and trends in co-use of marijuana and tobacco, tobacco-only use, and marijuana-only use among U.S. yout...

As recreational marijuana expands, it is critical to develop standardized surveillance measures to study the retail environment. To this end, our research team developed and piloted a tool assessing recreational marijuana retailers in a convenience sample of 20 Denver retailers in 2016. The tool assesses: (i) compliance and security (e.g. age-of-sa...

Background: Marijuana-tobacco co-use has increased recently, particularly in young adults. Objectives: We conducted a mixed-methods study to: (1) examine reasons for co-use; and (2) develop a scale assessing reasons for co-use among participants in a longitudinal cohort study of 3,418 students aged 18-25 from 7 Georgia colleges and universities....

Background Marijuana and tobacco are the most commonly used illicit and licit drugs during pregnancy. This study aimed to examine a nationally representative sample of US pregnant women and to: (1) determine the prevalence of past month marijuana and tobacco co-use, (2) identify characteristics that distinguish marijuana and tobacco co-users from u...

Although marijuana and tobacco are commonly coused, the nature of their relationship has not been fully elucidated. Behavioral economics has characterized the relationship between concurrently available commodities but has not been applied to marijuana and tobacco couse. U.S. adults ≥18 years who coused marijuana and tobacco cigarettes were recruit...

Objectives Approximately 10% (40 000) of US quitline enrollees who smoke cigarettes report current use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS); however, little is known about callers' ENDS use. Our aim was to describe why and how quitline callers use ENDS, their beliefs about ENDS and the impact of ENDS use on callers' quit processes and use...

Background: Approximately 70% of current (past 30-day) adult marijuana users are current tobacco users, which may complicate tobacco cessation. We assessed prevalence and trends in tobacco cessation among adult ever tobacco users, by marijuana use status. Methods: Data came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a cross-sectional, nati...

Objective: We examined prevalence and correlates of use of flavored versus unflavored cigars to smoke marijuana in the form of "blunts." Methods: Participants (N = 105) from the United States (US) who were > 18 years of age, smoked cigarettes daily, and used marijuana on at least 20 of the past 30 days were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk to c...

Background: Given increasing co-marijuana and tobacco use in the U.S., this study aimed to explore the overlap between menthol cigarette use (MCU) and marijuana. Methods: Data came from past month U.S. cigarette smokers 12 years and older responding to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2005 and 2014 (N= 51,500). Prevalence, demo...

Quitting cigarette smoking benefits smokers at any age (1). Individual, group, and telephone counseling and seven Food and Drug Administration-approved medications increase quit rates (1-3). To assess progress toward the Healthy People 2020 objectives of increasing the proportion of U.S. adults who attempt to quit smoking cigarettes to ≥80.0% (TU-4...

Background Community Health Centers (CHCs) are important settings for obesity prevention and control. However, few studies have explored the barriers that CHC clinicians perceive their patients face in maintaining a healthy weight. Methods Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with thirty physicians, physician assistants, and nurse pra...

Introduction: An increasingly popular method of consuming marijuana is through the smoking of "blunts," cigar products in which some or all of the tobacco filler is removed and repacked with marijuana. Even if all tobacco filler is removed from the cigar product in the process of making blunts, nicotine may be present in the wrapper of the cigar p...

Problem/condition: In the United States, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. In 2013, 7.5% (19.8 million) of the U.S. population aged ≥12 years reported using marijuana during the preceding month. Because of certain state-level policies that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use, population-based data on marijuana...

Background: Blunts and spliffs/mulled cigarettes combine marijuana and tobacco for co-administration (use at the same time, in the same product). Co-administration of marijuana and tobacco presents significant potential for nicotine exposure, and may lead to exclusive tobacco use patterns, nicotine addiction, and compounded health effects. No revi...

INTRODUCTION Limited research has examined reasons for polytobacco use, an increasing public health problem, particularly among young adults. We examined reasons for polytobacco use among users of more than one tobacco product in the past 4 months enrolled in an ongoing six-wave longitudinal study of 3,418 students aged 18-25 from seven US colleges...

Background: Tobacco and marijuana use are related behaviors; therefore, it is important to identify how users consume marijuana, and how it varies with tobacco use status. We estimated the modes of ever marijuana use among current, former, and never adult tobacco users. Methods: Weighted data were analyzed for 4181 adults from 2014 Styles, an on...

Purpose The ads from the first federally funded national tobacco education campaign, Tips From Former Smokers (Tips), considerably increased quitline calls nationwide. This study evaluates the effect of Tips on state-specific quitline calls. Design Precampaign, during-campaign, and postcampaign comparison; regression modeling. Setting All fifty s...

Co-use of marijuana and tobacco is increasing among adults in the United States, but little research exists examining why co-use occurs. Changing marijuana policies make understanding the relationship between marijuana and tobacco critical. This study aimed to assess how adult co-users of marijuana and tobacco qualitatively conceptualize and descri...

Objective: Describe cigarette smoking abstinence among employer and health plan-sponsored quitline registrants who were not using Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), were using ENDS to quit smoking or were using ENDS for other reasons at the time of quitline registration. Methods: We examined 6029 quitline callers aged ≥18 years who smo...

Introduction: Telephone-based tobacco quitlines are an evidence-based intervention, but little is known about how callers hear about quitlines and whether variations exist by demographics or state. This study assessed trends in "how-heard-abouts" (HHAs) in 38 states. Methods: Data came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's...

Introduction: To understand changes occurring in nondaily smoking (NDS), we assessed differences in demographics and trends in NDS, by smoking frequency and amount.> METHODS: Participants were 13,966 adult nondaily cigarette smokers age 18 years and older responding to the 2000-2012 U.S. National Health Interview Survey, an annual, nationally-repr...

Recent changes in policy and social norms related to marijuana use have increased its use and concern about how/where marijuana should be used. We aimed to characterize rules regarding marijuana and its use in homes. We recruited 1,567 US adults aged 18–34 years through Facebook advertisements to complete an online survey assessing marijuana use, s...

What is already known on this topic? Since 2010, the proportion of U.S. 12th grade students who reported using marijuana during the preceding 30 days (21.4%) has surpassed the proportion reporting use of cigarettes during the preceding 30 days (19.2%).What is added by this report? During 1997–2013, the proportion of white, black, and Hispanic high...

Introduction: Quitting smoking at any age confers health benefits. However, studies have suggested that quitting by age 35 years leads to mortality rates similar to never smokers. This study assessed whether the mean and median ages of past-year quitting and prevalence of past-year quit attempts and successful quitting by age group changed over ti...

Purpose . The ads from the first federally funded national tobacco education campaign, Tips From Former Smokers (Tips), considerably increased quitline calls nationwide. This study evaluates the effect of Tips on state-specific quitline calls. Design . Precampaign, during-campaign, and postcampaign comparison; regression modeling. Setting . All fif...

Cigarette smoking is the predominant cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]. Quitting can prevent development of and complications from COPD. The gold standard in clinician delivery of smoking cessation treatments is the 5As (ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange). This study assessed prevalence and correlates of self-reported receipt...

Policies legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use have been increasing in the U.S. Considering the potential impact of these policies, important knowledge gaps exist, including information about the prevalence of various modes of marijuana use (e.g., smoked in joints, bowls, bongs; consumed in edibles or drinks) and about medical versu...

Objectives. To examine abstinence outcomes among tobacco users with and without a reported mental health condition (MHC) who enrolled in state tobacco quitline programs. Methods. Data were analyzed from a 7-month follow-up survey (response rate: 41% [3,132/7,459]) of three state-funded telephone quitline programs in the United States that assessed...

This study assessed differences in individual tobacco product use between past month marijuana users and nonusers, and trends in overall tobacco use and use of specific tobacco products among marijuana users. Data were obtained from 378 459 adults participating in the 2003-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a cross-sectional, household in...

As marijuana legalization and acceptability increase in the U.S., it is important to understand the potential impact on tobacco use. Accordingly, we assessed prevalence, correlates, and ten-year trends in co-use of marijuana and tobacco among U.S. adults. Data came from 378,459 adults participating in the 2003-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and H...

It is unclear how use of other tobacco products impacts cigarette-smoking cessation. We assessed differences in past year cigarette smoking quit attempts and use of counseling and medication among current cigarette-only users, cigarette and cigar users, and cigarette and smokeless tobacco (SLT) users. Data came from 24,448 current cigarette-only, 1...

Background: There has been an increase in non-daily smoking, alternative tobacco product and marijuana use among young adults in recent years. Objectives: This study examined perceptions of health risks, addictiveness, and social acceptability of cigarettes, cigar products, smokeless tobacco, hookah, electronic cigarettes, and marijuana among yo...

Introduction: Using nationally representative data, we assessed the prevalence and correlates of cigarette smokers who tried switching to smokeless tobacco (SLT) or to other combusted tobacco (OCT) products to quit. Methods: Data came from 12,400 current or former adult smokers who made a quit attempt in the past year and responded to the 2010-2...

Given the increased marijuana use, negative health consequences of marijuana secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) and dearth of research regarding marijuana SHSe in personal settings, we examined the prevalence and correlates of allowing marijuana versus cigarette smoking in personal settings among 2002 online survey respondents at two southeastern US...

Introduction: Gradually reducing cigarette consumption is an approach used to quit smoking, but has not been widely studied at a population level. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and demographic characteristics of U.S. adult smokers who tried to reduce to quit, and the relationship between reducing and successful quitting....

Background: Health care providers play an important role in promoting tobacco use abstinence among adolescents. This study aimed to provide nationally representative data on the prevalence of provider tobacco use screening and advice delivered to adolescents. Cessation behaviors and correlates of past year quit attempts among current smokers are a...

Background Despite declining use of conventional tobacco products, youth use of non-cigarette tobacco has become prevalent; however, quitting behaviors remain largely unexplored. Purpose To examine nationally representative data on quit intentions and past-year attempts to quit all tobacco use among current youth tobacco users. Methods In 2013, d...

Objective: To use qualitative methods to explore how clinicians approach weight counseling, including who they counsel, how they bring up weight, what advice they provide, and what treatment referral resources they use. Methods: Thirty primary care physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners from four multi-clinic community health cen...

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is a major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD) but many persons with COPD continue to smoke. Quitting can help prevent the development of and complications from COPD. This study examined whether smoking and cessation behaviors differed among adults with a) COPD, b) asthma, c) other chronic conditi...

We aimed to qualitatively examine differences in perceptions of addiction, attempts to quit, and successful quitting among nondaily versus daily college student smokers. We conducted 16 focus groups with a total of 73 college student smokers from the southeastern U.S. Focus groups were homogenous in terms of gender, smoking status (nondaily, daily)...

To assess how employee benefits programs may strengthen and/or complement elements of the chronic care model (CCM), a framework used by health systems to improve chronic illness care. A qualitative inquiry consisting of semi-structured interviews with employee benefit administrators and partners from a self-insured, self-administered employee healt...

Tobacco quitlines are evidence-based cessation resources but have been underutilized. The purpose of this study is to provide population-level data about quitline awareness and utilization in the United States and to assess correlates of awareness and utilization. Data were from the 2009-2010 National Adult Tobacco Survey. Descriptive statistics we...

Nondaily smoking in the United States is increasing. Although differences in smoking and cessation behaviors between daily and nondaily smokers have been documented, differences among nondaily smokers are poorly understood. This study provides updated national data on smoking and cessation characteristics among nondaily versus daily smokers and bet...

Having diabetes and smoking increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. However, cessation-related weight gain, a common side effect during quitting, can further complicate diabetes. Evidence-based telephone quitlines can support quitting but have not been studied adequately in populations with chronic diseases such as diabetes. The purpose of t...

Background: College students identifying as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGB) are at increased risk for substance use. Few studies have assessed correlates of concurrent substance use, which increases the risk for substance use disorders. Objectives: The current study aimed to (1) examine differences in substance use among male and female sexual mi...

We examined correlates of continued smoking versus cessation among a sample of survivors of smoking-related cancers who were actively smoking at the time of cancer diagnosis. Participants with a history of smoking and a smoking-related cancer diagnosis (lung, oral, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, bladder, stomach, cervix, kidney, pancreas, acute myeloi...

Little is known about how former smokers are different from nonsmokers and current smokers in the young adult population. Intra- and inter-personal factors associated with former smoking status were examined among a college student sample. Undergraduate students (N=8834) were contacted at a 2-year college and a 4-year university in 2008; 2700 compl...

Recent simultaneous increases in nondaily smoking and decreases in daily smoking make the identification of nondaily smokers through biomarker measures as well as the relationship of biomarker levels to smoking behaviors important topics. However, little is known about biochemical identification and carcinogen exposure of nondaily smokers. One toba...

Very few community-based intervention studies have examined how to effectively increase the adoption of smoke-free homes. A pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term outcomes of a brief, four-component intervention for promoting smoke-free home policies among low-income households. We recruited forty participa...

Washington state has experienced a dramatic reduction in adult smoking prevalence (22.4% in 1999 to 14.8% in 2010) because of a comprehensive tobacco control effort that includes a proactive health professional education and an outreach program. The outreach program uses academic detailing and online tools to increase routine identification and tre...

Despite increases in nondaily smoking among young adults, no prior research has aimed to develop and test an intervention targeting this group. Thus, we aimed to develop and test the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of an online intervention targeting college student nondaily smokers. We conducted a one-arm feasibility and ac...

Health risk behaviors including smoking and weight-gain can cause and exacerbate chronic diseases like diabetes. Brief provider advice is an effective intervention to reduce risk from these behaviors. However, behavioral advice is provided more often to those who already have a chronic illness when compared with those who are at risk. The purpose o...

Prevalence of hookah or waterpipe smoking is increasing in the United States, particularly among college-aged students. Little research has examined the relationship between hookah smoking, other risk-seeking behaviors, and specific personality factors. The current study aims to address this gap in the literature. A random sample of 10,000 students...

This article describes a Washington State-based Systems Change Pilot Project in which the chronic care model and the model for improvement were used as tools to promote tobacco cessation-related changes within a health care system. Three diverse sites participated in the pilot. Site teams tailored plan-do-study-act tests to site circumstances, addr...